Oh, Merlin!

[Nat]

Eleven years ago my daughter took a course in dog training.....they used shelter puppies for the students, and she got Merlin to train. They said he was an Aussie/Border mix...Boy does he have a heavy coat. He has a very heavy undercoat, too. He's been so itchy, we decided a good spa day was in order.....nails done, aromatic bath and a hair trim. It was so funny. Our two other dogs did not recognize him (neither did I!!) and it almost started a fight! They had to smell him all over before they would accept him (and he does not like to be sniffed!!) We had a good laugh, and he ran around the whole house rolling and jumping as if he, too, thought his new look was great!

on Flickr

on Flickr

I did a little blurring on the wall behind him to hide imperfections...I see I created some funky things....I will fix that later, just wanted to share his haircut....

[Digital]

Nat, very nice images of Merlin before, and after the trim.



Bruce

[IzzieK]

Now that dog is beautiful with the new haircut...I can understand her thrill of not having to carry all those hairs with him...I just had a short short haircut a few days ago before our trip and my head feels very very light without all those extra long hair I had been carrying almost all of my life...I can just imagine how Merlin feels....

[Shadowman]

Nice transformation and capture.

[Nat]

Thank you Bruce, Izzie and John. Izzie, he is running around the house like he is years younger! This of course upsets the other two and they begin chase. This is where we are working to reinforce their "place" training!! Oh, boy.
I forgot to say, she was supposed to train him 11 years ago to be more adoptable....needless to say, guess who adopted him? Hard to spend 8 weeks with a puppy and then let them go....

[marlunn]

very nice, looks so much happier with the weight gone and I suspect the heat from it as well, as for the 'training placement' - well that trick worked then

[KimC]

Nice images and beautiful trim!

[rpcrowe]

Handsome dog! I like the shorter trim better. He looks more lively and happier but, of course, I could be projecting my own thoughts onto Merlin...

Very nice portraits - both of them! I like the background color. It works well with Merlin's black-white-gray coat!

[Nat]

Thank you Mark, Kim and Richard! Merlin IS happier....That wall needs a coat of paint, Richard, had to clone some spots and scratches....but it does work. I got the Demb flash diffuser, and used it here. Works like a charm, I appreciate you putting me onto it. I also bought a Nikon SB700 flash, as the one I had was old and misfiring sometimes, and this one has a lot of features, if I can just find the time to read the booklet.....Much better than the onboard flash....And I can use the onboard and use this one as a remote thru the commander mode, so it's a bonus.

[IzzieK]

.......Hard to spend 8 weeks with a puppy and then let them go....

I understand how you feel...we got Roxie was about to thrown to the pound and given away or something. I decided to adopt her. My husband walks her when I wasn't capable of doing so and I did the rest because she was wild when we got her. She must have been abused by her first owner...constant love and constant training, we thought we were able to be successful after two years of her being with us. We went here to Kentucky and because of the weather in St Louis going bad, Bill's son decided to fly our airplane here to Bowling Green last night. It was an emergency call to our neighbour across the road who used to help us feed and take out our animals before.

This time we hired a kid next door to us to take care of our two dogs and a cat but she is supposed to take care of them this morning not last night. In short our neighbour across the road came to feed our animals and Roxie bit her and drew blood. She called our next door neighbour to take over.

Not really a bad bite but we are still worried and she called us up to check if Roxie has rabies shot. We told her that all our animals have current proper checkup every whatever dates and times our vet tells us, so yes, she has a current rabies shot. 'Wished it didn't happen but it did. Bill was angry at Roxie but I told him the dog was only doing her duty. She doesn't know Marcia and as far as she is concerned, Marcia is a stranger and Marcia was in our house.

Besides it will be too late to castigate and get angry at my dog when we get home. She would had forgotten what she did last night. And she knows Elizabeth better next door because she barks and say hello to them each day they take their car out from their garage from our backyard Melanie and her friends playing out front of their property...He agreed but we are still embarrassed so we need to apologize instead when we get home because it was 10pm when we called her to help feed our animals.

BTW Roxie is a a blue heeler mix Aussie Shepherd and she looks more like your Merlin with a short hair ...

[Nat]

Aww, that's unfortunate....I hope the lady, Marcia, is understanding and does not decide to cause problems. It's like you said, your Roxie was on her own property, and was being protective... We used to have a blue heeler, many many years ago...and he was an ankle biter....had to be careful with him...warn people not to turn their backs on him....They are herding dogs, and that's how they herd people! Yes, he was also the color of Merlin shaved! But his hair was very short, never got long like Merlin's. Hope everything turns out well....so glad you gave Roxie a second chance by adopting her.

[rpcrowe]

I received CoCo a dark Labradoodle as a foster and only had her at my house for a couple of hours.



I had a gardener who was absolutely frightened of dogs, any dog including my Maltese. However, CoCo did look a little fiercer than the average Labradoodle. Especially before she was trimmed at the groomer.



I thought that the gardener had left for the day and I let CoCo out. He had not left. She made a beeline for the gardener and my heart was in my throat because I didn't know the dog. I called her name and, amazingly, she stopped on a dime, turned and came back to me. I think that I was more frightened than was the gardener...

[IzzieK]

Thanks Nat for your kind words...Yes, Roxie used to herd us, but I got her out of it, so she is herding the dog of my stepson every day because she can get away with it. She is really a funny little lady...when she raise her right back paw, I know that she will pounce on little Huey...and so the chase begins. Before we left, hubby used to take her to the airport and run her around the hangars. She loves it. Now that we are back, she will continued to be trained that way each day for 45 minutes. It satisfies her herding instinct.

Aww, that's unfortunate....I hope the lady, Marcia, is understanding and does not decide to cause problems. It's like you said, your Roxie was on her own property, and was being protective... We used to have a blue heeler, many many years ago...and he was an ankle biter....had to be careful with him...warn people not to turn their backs on him....They are herding dogs, and that's how they herd people! Yes, he was also the color of Merlin shaved! But his hair was very short, never got long like Merlin's. Hope everything turns out well....so glad you gave Roxie a second chance by adopting her.

[IzzieK]

That is a nice story, Richard...in the first shot she looks scared, but in the second shot her eyes softened up.

I received CoCo a dark Labradoodle as a foster and only had her at my house for a couple of hours.



I had a gardener who was absolutely frightened of dogs, any dog including my Maltese. However, CoCo did look a little fiercer than the average Labradoodle. Especially before she was trimmed at the groomer.



I thought that the gardener had left for the day and I let CoCo out. He had not left. She made a beeline for the gardener and my heart was in my throat because I didn't know the dog. I called her name and, amazingly, she stopped on a dime, turned and came back to me. I think that I was more frightened than was the gardener...

[Nat]

Richard, so glad CoCo did not take a bite of the gardener!! That might have caused some problems for you and for him. AND for CoCo. Yes, CoCo also looks more content clipped! Pretty girl.
Izzy, our 3 dogs all behave much better after a long run.....if they don't get that for several days, they tend to be short with each other...especially Merlin! On their runs, the boxer takes the lead (she can outrun the other two) the German Shepherd lies down, in wait of the boxer, Daisy to return her circle and then tries to pounce, and Merlin tries to her her back to me and stop her run! It's funny. Then when they come in, they sleep contentedly for hours! Hmmm, maybe my daughter and I need to walk more....hahahaha

[IzzieK]

Do the thread mill thingie with your dogs...I know it is a lazy way to do it but it is good when life gets in the way...

Richard, so glad CoCo did not take a bite of the gardener!! That might have caused some problems for you and for him. AND for CoCo. Yes, CoCo also looks more content clipped! Pretty girl.
Izzy, our 3 dogs all behave much better after a long run.....if they don't get that for several days, they tend to be short with each other...especially Merlin! On their runs, the boxer takes the lead (she can outrun the other two) the German Shepherd lies down, in wait of the boxer, Daisy to return her circle and then tries to pounce, and Merlin tries to her her back to me and stop her run! It's funny. Then when they come in, they sleep contentedly for hours! Hmmm, maybe my daughter and I need to walk more....hahahaha

[Nat]

Gave my treadmill away last year, and the dogs don't seem to want to ride the stationary bike or the elliptical trainer. We walk when we can.....